Last Minute Tips for Students Preparing for IELTS 2019

Taking the IELTS can be a daunting experience, no matter your need for an official score. Many people around the world sit for the IELTS for emigration purposes, higher education, job promotions, and even career advancement opportunities. There are really only two major English aptitude tests for non-native English speakers and the IELTS is one of them, leaving many to ask the important question, “Are there any valuable and noteworthy last-minute tips I can implement into my studies?”

While a rigorous course of study—which includes an informative in-person or online preparatory class—is the best answer for a high IELTS score, there are some last-minute tips you can do to ameliorate some anxiety and feel prepared. Let’s explore some of these, all of which are endorsed and put into practice by Manhattan Review Begumpet. Have a pen and paper handy? You will want to jot them down and remember them as your IELTS exam day draw near!

Use English The Day Of Your Test

It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t want to jump out of bed and take a practice exam in the wee hours of the morning before you take the real thing later that day. Heck, you don’t want to take a mock exam the day or two before your official exam, either. However, with the IELTS being a critical English evaluation, you will want to “flex your English muscles” the day of. How so?

Well, ideally, you can wake up and put on an English-speaking podcast or the news or TV. Reading an article or chapter of a book written in English is a great way to work on your reading abilities and warm up your eyes, so to speak. Furthermore, calling a friend who speaks English and conversing with him or her before you actually go in for your exam can be of great use, also. There are a multitude of ways to read, listen, speak, and write English the day or your IELTS examination. Find creative and interesting ways that work for you and implement them so that you don’t walk into your testing area like a deer in headlights, rusty of your hard-earned capabilities.

Rest and Relaxation

Why would you want to take the IELTS exhausted? This doesn’t work for anyone—it especially won’t work if you’re looking for high-scoring success. Make sure to get plenty of rest prior to exam day. It’s not a bad idea to sleep a few extra hours in the days leading up to it, if possible. Regardless, you can’t expect to perform optimally with bags under your eyes, so make all the precautions that you can to get a good night’s rest. People whose mother tongue is English don’t even speak or read or write well when they are lacking sleep, so why would a non-native English speaker?

Arrive Early

The last thing you want the day of your exam is to be thrown off by last-minute traffic, disruptions, or travel-related issues. You never know what can slow you down when it comes to transportation, so do your best to ensure you get to the testing center early. It’s a good idea to make a “dry run” to the testing area a day or two before your official exam just so you can be sure how to properly get there. Make note of any road construction or public transportation changes also. In the end, it’s better to arrive very early than run the risk of missing out on your exam by being extremely late. As we say in English, “The early bird gets the worm”. Well, in this case it’s definitely not a worm—thank goodness!—but the IELTS.

Avoid Cramming

Last minute cramming the night or day before your exam is almost as detrimental as not getting enough sleep. Cramming does not work for an exam like the IELTS, which relies on English skills cultivated over time applied to an academic setting. Plan your IELTS study appropriately; give yourself at least two months to study in a formal class with room for several mock exams. There’s nothing wrong with working on practice exercises in the days leading up to your exam; however, forcing new information into your brain will only cause test day confusion.

Stay Confident

If you’ve been studying for months and months, it’s important to stay confident, right? Confidence will give you the leg up that you need when it comes to an exam like the IELTS, particularly when it comes to speaking and writing skills. With your hard-earned practice and progress under your belt, you have to walk into that testing room brimming with confidence. There’s an expression in English we often say, which is “fake it until you make it”. This implies that even if you’re not feeling 110% confidence about your ability to knock the exam out of the water, you will need to act like it. Remember—many of the skills on the IELTS you use in everyday life, it just seems heightened and scary because it’s being put to the test in a formal academic setting. Trust yourself and act like you’ve got it in the bag. This will take you far when you’re sitting for the real exam.

Did these tips help you understand what you can feasibly do to help your odds of IELTS success in the days leading up to it? Manhattan Prep and other elite academic services firms highly endorse them, particularly when coupled with a rigorous course of study. Are you enrolled in a challenging IELTS prep course? Explore your options today. Nothing beats learning these skills firsthand under the expertise of an experienced coach.

Steven Smith is a fanatical writer, blogger, and a devotee. She produces superior articles, how-tos, latest tips and tricks, and reviews. She takes pride in helping businesses through his content. When she’s not writing, she’s probably playing games and watching horror movies.